The University of Nottingham has paid tribute to the achievements of one of China’s oldest and most prestigious universities.

As part of celebrations for the 120th anniversary of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), the Vice Chancellor of The University of Nottingham, Professor Sir David Greenaway, was invited to address a Grand Assembly.

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In his speech, delivered to more than 5,000 invited guests, he spoke of transnational collaboration, re-enforcing the bridge between East and West, as well as drawing links between the two universities.

He said: “In our world technology is changing everything; our really big challenges are genuinely global; distance and time zones are not the impediments they once were. In this world Universities are key ‘go to’ places. We know about change and transformation, it is encoded in our DNA; we can drive and mediate change; but, we too have to change.

“We have to become even more globally connected, not just through ever more rapid data transfer and the internet of things, but through more purposeful engagement that can only come from spending more time with each other.”

Next week SJTU, which is a similar age to The University of Nottingham, will celebrate a 10 year partnership with the University of Michigan.

Last year Nottingham celebrated the tenth anniversary of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, this country’s first Sino Foreign University. Both universities are founding members of Universitas 21.

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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with a “distinct” approach to internationalisation, which rests on those full-scale campuses in China and Malaysia, as well as a large presence in its home city.’ (Times Good University Guide 2016). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and the winner of ‘Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers’ at the Times Higher Education Awards 2015. It is ranked in the world’s top 75 by the QS World University Rankings 2015/16, and 8th in the UK by research power according to the Research Excellence Framework 2014. It has been voted the world’s greenest campus for three years running, according to Greenmetrics Ranking of World Universities.